Drone attack caused fire on gas ships at Mediterranean port, Egypt says
The drone reportedly hit a US-owned regasification vessel and a Greek-owned tanker at Damietta port on Wednesday.
A drone strike ignited a fire on gas ships at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta, as confirmed by Egyptian authorities. Social media videos depicted tugboats dousing the vessels with water.
Egypt's cabinet verified that a drone attack on Wednesday caused the blaze on two ships at the Damietta port, a significant hub for liquified natural gas (LNG). A statement noted, "No party has claimed responsibility," adding that investigations are ongoing to "take the necessary measures to preserve Egypt's interests and national security."
Reports indicate the drone struck the US-owned floating storage and regasification vessel, Energos Winter, initiating a fire that then spread to the Greek-owned LNG tanker, GasLog Salem. Verified social media footage displayed plumes of black smoke emanating from the port and tugboats spraying water onto the ships.
Egyptian authorities reported that the fires were extinguished without casualties and that the port remained fully operational on Thursday. Ship tracking data shows that Energos Winter and GasLog Salem departed the port and moved offshore after the incident.
The origin of the drone and the perpetrators of the attack remain unknown. However, Iranian forces and their allied armed groups have previously conducted similar attacks on tankers in the Gulf and Red Sea, as well as on energy infrastructure in several Arab nations, amidst the US and Israel's conflict with Iran. These actions have disrupted global trade and driven up oil prices.
Egypt, a US ally, has not previously been directly targeted by Iran. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump informed reporters that he had been briefed on the Damietta incident and suggested Iran or its proxies were responsible. "It's a little more of the same. But it's going to be straightening out," he commented.
The Damietta attack occurred hours after the US and Saudi Arabia conducted joint airstrikes in Iraq against Iran-backed armed groups. These groups, according to the US and Saudi Arabia, had launched 30 drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities in recent days, directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), predominantly composed of Iran-backed Shia militias, reported at least 20 fatalities from these strikes, labeling them an "extremely serious escalation." Iran's foreign ministry also condemned the strikes, warning of "dangerous consequences."
On Wednesday night, the US carried out what it termed a "heavy wave of strikes" on Iran, in response to an attempted "surprise" missile attack on US military installations in Jordan.